Aadhaar racket busted in Dimapur, 1 arrested

Dimapur, October 11 (MExN): In a case that raises fresh concerns over Aadhaar, a 25-year-young man was arrested, on October 10, for allegedly undertaking illegal enrollment of Aadhaar cards in Dimapur, a police official informed today.  

The incident came to light, according to Dimapur police, after two persons were produced at East Police Station by personnel of Special Branch Dimapur along with an FIR stating that they were engaged in illegal Aadhaar enrollment.  

A case was registered and taken up for investigation, informed a press note from Addl. Dy. Commissioner of Police/PRO Dimapur.  

Preliminary investigation revealed that that one Moinul Hoque (25 yrs), of Dhekiajuli, Tezpur, Assam and presently a resident of Aoyimti Dimapur was found to be involved in illegal enrollment of Aadhaar, it said.  

“The accused is currently an employee of Aadhaar correction centre at Purana Bazar and he had illegally obtained a user’s ID of New Aadhaar Enrollment from one Mahaboob Ahmed of Guwahati for a period of one month by paying a sum of Rs 23, 000,” it added.  

Accordingly, he was engaged in illegal Aadhaar enrollment, mostly non locals, at the rate of Rs 500 since September 7, 2017 without the knowledge of the proprietors, the police said,  

The modus operandi, according to the police, was to operate from 1500 hrs to 1900 hrs (3PM-7PM) when all other employees have left the office.  

The police estimated that so far the accused had enrolled about 150 to 200 persons illegally.  

The other person was let-off after preliminary investigation revealed that he was not involved in the process.  

The police further pointed out that since August 2017, Nagaland State Government has banned all private enrollment of Aadhaar and has authorized only designated government offices i.e. DC,ADC, SDO(C) for Aadhaar enrollment.  

Further investigation is on to unearth the extent of the illegal enrollment, the police added.